Forgotten Stories
by Turretwithaview
Summary: She'd forgotten the name until seeing it scrawled across the top of the drawing "Monkey-Bunkey And The Naughty Banana"
1. Chapter 1

**Forgotten Stories**

It was a one of those miserable, wet, autumn days and Kate didn't feel like going out. Castle had gone to one of his meetings with Black Pawn and she wasn't expecting to see him back till later on in the afternoon. It was strange how his presence comforted her these days, how not only did she miss him when he wasn't with her on a case, but she also missed him when he wasn't around on her free days …. not that _that_ happened much, but after a morning in the loft reading, cleaning, tidying up, cooking, reading … she had reached the stage where she didn't know what to do with herself.

Then she had remembered their conversation from a few weeks beforehand about sorting out the downstairs storage room. Some of her stuff had been put in there when she left her apartment and moved in to the loft, but a lot of items had been accumulated over the years by Rick and had just been stuck in there when they weren't found to be of use or needed in the loft. They had discussed spending a weekend going through the contents and donating anything of use to local charities and dumping anything which had neither value not interest.

So she had decided to start looking at what was in there at least … there was no way she was going to decide what _he_ should or shouldn't keep, but she might as well make a start on organising the contents; maybe make a list of what was there.

And that was what she had been doing for a couple of hours until she came across the box. She wouldn't have gone through the contents without him being present if it hadn't have been for the fact that one, it was open-toped and two, the item on the top had caught her attention. It looked just like any binder holding schoolwork or something similar, but it had been the faded picture glued on to the cover which had caught her eye.

She remembered Rick telling her about Alexis' stuffed monkey back when they were on the Candelas' kidnapping case the first year he shadowed her. She'd forgotten the name until seeing it scrawled across the top of the drawing "_Monkey-Bunkey And The Naughty Banana_". The picture was obviously a kid's drawing of a monkey and a banana wearing a bandit or burglar's mask, but both the text of the title and its style looked much more mature. Something about it made her pull it out and flip the cover open. She stopped, hand over her mouth as a smile spread across her face. This she had not expected!

* * *

**MONKEY-BUNKEY AND THE NAUGHTY BANANA**

_For my little Pumpkin_

_By Richard Rodgers_

* * *

She had almost stopped right there, feeling intrusive at turning any more pages, but eventually curiosity got the better of her and she carefully turned the slightly yellowed paper ….

* * *

**When Monkey-Bunkey woke up one morning, he was feeling so, so hungry, he decided to look in the fridge for some food.**

**But when he opened the door … Oh dear … the only thing he could find was an old banana!**

**Monkey-Bunkey didn't like old bananas, but he was so hungry! His tummy was going "****_Growl, Growl, Feed Me! Feed Me!_****" and so he decided he would eat the old banana.**

**So he went to the cupboard, pulled out his favourite red plate and his red plastic cup and carried them to the table.**

**Monkey-Bunkey took his red cup to the sink, climbed up on his little stool and filled his cup with water.**

**Then carrying the cup very, very carefully he took it back to the table where he put it by his plate.**

* * *

The text was written in large font each paragraph spread across a page. Below each paragraph was a childish drawing of the scene depicted. Kate found an old chair by the wall, pulled it out and sat down, the binder open on her lap. She was enthralled, not just by the story itself, but also because of the picture it conjured up of Castle and his little daughter. She could just picture Rick reading the story to her and a young Alexis drawing in the pictures her vivid imagination conjured up.

* * *

**Then Monkey-Bunkey went to the danger draw! He pulled it open and very carefully he took out his little red knife and fork, carrying them to the table as well.**

**Now he was ready for his breakfast, so he went back to the fridge, opened the door and looked at the old banana.**

**He put his hand in to pick it up … but suddenly, the banana stood up and ran to the back of the fridge!**

**"****_Oh!_****" Said Monkey-Bunkey, "****_I didn't know old bananas could run!_****" **

**The old banana looked at him from the corner of the fridge and said … in a very ****_bananary_**** voice "****_I'm not an _****_old_****_ banana …. Monkey face!_****"**

* * *

By now Kate was laughing, not so much at of the story itself, as at the image her mind conjured up of Rick doing all the voices as an enthralled Alexis squealed and clapped her hands in delight. She carefully closed the binder and gently ran her hands over the picture and the cover. Her mind wandered to a possible future … of kids of her own and Rick writing and reading them wonderful stories of monkeys and naughty bananas …. she suddenly felt herself blushing self-consciously, as butterflies tickled her insides …. maybe, she thought, maybe, but not just yet!

She stood up holding the binder against her chest with the same amount of care she would take with a precious object and pushed the chair back into place against the wall. Turning off the light she locked the door and took the lift up to the loft. She desperately wanted to carry on reading the story, but had decided to ask permission, not only of Rick, but also, more importantly, of Alexis. She did not want to intrude into what could be a very personal scene and would only do so if both Alexis and Rick were happy with it.


	2. Chapter 2

It was close on five, the dreary day already darkening into gloomy evening when Castle walked in through the door. He was glad to be home, out of Black Pawn's offices, out of the rain, in to the glorious smile he was getting from his Detective who was sitting on the couch, legs stretched out, book in hand, the loft's lights lending a gentle glow to her skin, shadows rippling around her as she climbed to her feet and walked towards him. He had removed his raincoat and could do nothing but let it drop unheeded to the floor as she put her arms round his neck, pulled herself up on tip-toes and planted a searing kiss to his lips which had his eyebrows shooting up in surprise, his heartbeat doing the same and any coherent thought vanishing into thin air.

His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her up off her feet, eliciting a little squeak of surprise from her and a parting of lips and tongues as they both gasped for air, her legs coming up to lock around his waist and support herself against him.

"_I take it you missed me? Or is this how you welcome anyone who walks in our home?_"

She gave a breathless laugh and leant back in his arms, legs still wrapped around him. "_Yes to the first and only if he's ruggedly handsome to the second!_"

He started heading towards the bedroom, Kate still clinging to him like an overgrown version of five year-old Alexis. "_Where are you taking me?_" she enquired of him, eyebrows raised and her lip caught between her teeth.

"_To the bedroom where I am going to show you how ruggedly handsome guys like me treat beautiful Detectives who jump all over them as soon as they walk in the door!_"

"_Oooh! Do I get to meet the plumber or is it the electrician today?_" she asked in a parody of a bimbo, falsetto voice, batting eyelids and index finger placed against her cheek.

He laughed, "_I need a shower, so guess it'll be the plumber_ .."

The shower took longer than it should have done, in fact quite a bit longer. Eventually a very satisfied bimbo/detective and plumber/writer emerged; she to get changed into yoga pants and one of his "_Writers do it with their fingers_" t-shirts and he into sweatpants and top.

Once they were back in the sitting room, glass of wine in hand, they settled back on the couch, Rick tucked into the corner with Kate scrunched up against him, her legs tucked underneath her.

"_So what was your day lik_…" they both started at the same time. Laughter accompanied the shaking of heads at how in sync they were, before she placed her index finger against his lips and told him "_You first_".

He kissed her finger and gently removed it, holding her hand in his. He closed his eyes, laid his head back against the couch and sighed. "_Not too bad … or at least the lionesses didn't eat me alive, must have had to do with the chapters I sent in last week. There's a book signing coming up in Toronto next month, dates still to be arranged, I thought maybe you could get a couple of days off and come with me?_"

She nodded, "_As long as I'm not in the middle of a case and that the Captain agrees .. but only for a couple of days_".

He kissed her and ran his fingers through her hair, "_What about your day, how did it go?_"

She sat up, pushing herself away from him for a moment and looked at him as she chewed her lip. He loved it when she did that but he also worried that one day she'd chew all the way through, so he placed a finger against the trapped lip and gently pulled it out from under her teeth. She huffed and then smiled at him.

"_I got bored and then ended up in the storage room downstairs … you remember we talked about going through it and clearing things out …?_"

He nodded.

"_Well, anyway, I thought I'd go down and just start making a list of what was there so we could …. maybe next weekend …_"

"_Get it done?_" He finished for her, smiling at how insecure she could be around him at times.

She smiled at him placing her hand against his chest and smoothing it down his front as she nodded. "_Anyway, I wasn't prying, didn't intend to open anything, or look into draws_ …"

"_Kate!_" he interrupted her "_How many times do I have to tell you that anything of mine is just as much yours as well. You don't need to ask or get permission … and if you do find anything incriminating …_" he grinned at her _"… just promise you'll let me explain before shooting me!_"

"_Stoopid!_" she said, whacking him lightly on the chest. "_It's not just your stuff down there Rick, or at least .. I mean .. there could be things belonging to Alexis .. or even .. god help me, Deep-Fried Twinkie!_"

She laughed at the look of pain that crossed his face at the mention of Meredith. But it was true, she did not want to find things which might upset the applecart … for any of them. He nodded in understanding "_There won't be anything of Meredith's there, I can assure you, and anything belonging to Alexis … she's not going to mind you seeing it Kate!"_

"_Well that brings me to what I __did__ find. As I said, I wasn't prying, but I came across an open-topped box and … this was inside, on the top ._." she bent over, slid her hand under the couch and pulled out the binder, handing it to Rick.

Rick's face was a picture when he recognised the object she was holding out to him. His mouth formed an o, his eyes opened wide and then his whole face changed to that of a kid's on Christmas morning … in an almost awed voice he whispered "_The Monkey-Bunkey stories … I'd forgotten all about them!_"

He started to open the binder, but Kate placed her hand on his, stopping him. "_I started to read the first few pages, before I realised that I should not only get your permission …. but also Alexis'. You obviously wrote it for her …. And it's only right that she should say if they can be shared with someone else or not_"

Castle looked at her, his hand cupping her cheek, the loving look on his face setting the butterflies off in her stomach. "_I'm not used to people being so .. so considerate about our feelings … even my mother tends to barge her way through. You know that Alexis wouldn't mind at all if you were to read it right?_"

"_I'm hoping she won't mind. I'd love to continue reading it, but I have to get her say-so first Rick_" she smiled at him, tucking herself back into his side as she lifted the binder out of his hands and set it down on the coffee table in front of them. "_But you can tell me about the story …. stories?_" she looked at him as he nodded "_Tell me about why you wrote them and why you didn't … do anything more with them?_"

"_Publish them you mean?_" he continued at her nod "_I wrote them just for us, it was our little world, not for public consumption. The first one …_" he had to think a moment "… '_Monkey-Bunkey at the Zoo' … was after one of Meredith's non-shows for Alexi's fifth birthday. She was so sad .. but trying to hide it, you know?_"

Kate nodded in understanding, rubbing her hand against his chest, feeling his heartbeat through the palm of her hand and wishing she could wrap her fingers round Twinkie's throat.

"_We'd been to the zoo that morning and when I saw her trying to be so brave all afternoon, waiting for her mother to appear and trying to hide her disappointment when she didn't … I just went in and quickly wrote about our day at the zoo, only I didn't want it to be too obvious, so I made it about Monkey-Bunkey_". He paused, even after all these years the hurt was evident in his voice, in the slightly hunched shoulders and once again Kate silently promised herself that she would never knowingly hurt him again; like all his women, her included, had done so many times.

She wiped her eyes, cleared her throat and kissed him. "_Let's get some dinner shall we? Then we can go to bed and you can tell me the rest of the story about Monkey-Bunkey's adventures_"

He laughed, returned her kiss and stood up alongside her, "_Ok Detective, and what can the Chef get you tonight?_" wagging his eyebrows suggestively at her, the not so subtle reference to the earlier 'plumber' episode not being lost on her.


	3. Chapter 3

Rick climbed into bed beside her, pushed his pillow behind him and settled back against the headboard. Kate moved up against him, wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head in his lap. With a sigh of contentment she felt his fingers carding through her hair, gently massaging her scalp, her mind asking her for the umpteenth time why she had been so scared of getting into a relationship with her writer. She had never felt so wanted, so desired and so safe … in fact it was pretty scary! She quickly back-tracked out of _that_ rabbit hole and with her finger drawing patterns on his thigh she ventured "_So, how many stories did you write for her?_"

"_I think I did about twelve_ … " he paused "… _maybe fourteen stories, I can't remember exactly. They were just everyday things we would do, or see or imagine. When I did the first one … I have to admit it was pretty awful, I mean I hadn't written any children's stuff before ... and I was sore at Meredith, and trying to keep an eye on Alexis and her friends … a couple of the mothers had stuck around to help, but you know me, I was _…"

"_Hovering?_" she asked on a laugh

"_Yeah, I guess 'hovering' just about covers it_. _Anyway, I wrote about the day we'd spent at the zoo, printed it out and put it in a folder. After everyone had left and I'd given Alexis her bath and put her to bed … I asked her if she wanted me to read her one of her usual bedtime stories or a 'special' one that had mysteriously appeared from outer space!_"

Kate chuckled at that "_And I can imagine which one she chose!_"

"_Right!_" he laughed. "_Anyway, when I read out the title_ 'Monkey-Bunkey at the Zoo' … _oh Kate, you should have seen her! Her eyes were almost popping out of her head and she clutched her stuffed monkey ever tighter and her mouth dropped open and then she said_ 'A story about Monkey-Bunkey! Daddy, a story about Monkey-Bunkey!' … _and she was almost bouncing up and down on the bed, all the sadness and hurt from her Mom not turning up for her birthday just forgotten!_"

Kate didn't know whether laugh or cry at the story. She could just picture five year-old Alexis as Castle was describing her and her reaction was not that different to his, earlier on in the evening when she had shown him her discovery.

"_Anyway, the next evening, when I went to read her a story, she just pulled out the Monkey-Bunkey one and asked me to read it again. You know how she does the puppy eyes and the pout?_"

"_Hmm, I wonder who she got those off?_"

He playfully slapped her shoulder, "_No interrupting the master storyteller!_"

She cuddled further into him, tangling her foot in between his and tipping her head back to look up at him, an apologetic pout on her lips.

"_Not going to work Kate!_" and she huffed a laugh. "_So, I opened the folder and found that Alexis had done a couple of drawings of Monkey-Bunkey … and what I assumed was a penguin; although I'd never seen a pink and purple one before! That gave me the idea of leaving large spaces on the sheets of the next stories and getting her to 'illustrate' them …. I thought that would make them even more … personal, to her_"

She sighed, kissing his the skin just below his ribs before pulling herself up and straddling him. There were tears in her eyes as she leant forwards to kiss him. "_Where did you learn to be such a … great father …. and such a pain in the neck of a shadow?!_"

She could feel his answering smile against her lips, his hands sliding in under the back of her t-shirt and holding her round the waist as he pulled her further up into his lap. She could tell he was getting …. enthusiastic …. so she laid a hand flat against his chest, pausing them.

"_I just wanted to say something … when I was down in the storeroom, reading the first pages of the story …_" she looked up at him from under her lashes, feeling the blood rush up her neck and into her face _".. I suddenly had this picture of you_ …" she had to clear her throat before continuing, "… _of you writing and reading stories to a couple of our kids …. not, not tomorrow … but some day!_" she finished in a rush.

If there had been any doubt in her mind over the matter, the look he was giving her would have sent it spinning off into outer space. She didn't think it was possible to get any redder than she already was, but from the sensation of heat on her face she was sure she must look like a beetroot and ….

Any further coherent though left her mind as he crushed his lips to hers, pushed his tongue into her mouth and flipped her over onto her back, his body settling over hers and the fire in his eyes scorching her to her core.


	4. Chapter 4

Alexis arrived for the weekend, dropped her usual bag with dirty laundry just inside the doorway and joined them in the sitting room. She hugged her Dad, leant back as he put his arms around her waist and looked closely at his face. Seemingly satisfied she kissed him and turned to Kate who was standing nearby looking on at them with a gentle smile. She wrapped her arms around the Detective, gave her a big hug and pulled away.

Alexis was somewhat intrigued; the phone call from Kate on Thursday asking her if she intended to spend the weekend at the loft had left her wanting to know what was going on. She could tell from Kate's voice that it wasn't anything cataclysmic, but she was still anxious to find out. Watching the two of them, she felt it wasn't anything life changing; Kate was a little nervous but not enough to have her on guard ….

"_Ok, will you guys tell me what's up before I chew my nails to bits!_"

Her father looked at her, a sheepish look on his face "_How about you go up and get changed into something old and comfy, Pumpkin, sort of thing that you don't mind getting dusty_ …"

"_Is this about clearing the storeroom out?_"

"_Sort of … I mean yes, but we also want to … look at a discovery we … Kate, made_"

"_For a writer, you are sure fumbling your words Dad!_"

Rick laughed, took her by the shoulders, turned her round and shoved her towards the stairs "_Go! Dratted offspring of mine_ .."

She looked back as she climbed the stairs, enjoying the sight of Kate laughing as she sat on the couch and her father shaking his head as he headed for the kitchen.

When she returned downstairs wearing a pair of old jeans and her old school sweatshirt, she found her Dad and Kate sitting next to each other on the couch, a big tub of Rocky Road ice-cream on the table and three spoons poking out of it. "_Now that's a good way to start clearing out the storeroom!_" she said, sitting down next to her father. They grabbed a spoon each and took a scoop from the tub, Rick and Kate having a spoon fight as he tried to pinch the scoop she'd dug out.

They were about halfway down the tub when even Castle had decided enough was enough. Sitting back with a sigh he pulled his two girls into a hug, each one resting their head on his shoulder, Alexis' blue eyes smiling across his chest at Kate's hazel-green ones.

She placed her hand on her Dad's chest and gave it a couple of taps. "_Ok, give over, what are you two hiding?_"

Kate pushed herself up into a sitting position, her face a bit more serious as she looked down at Alexis.

"_First of all Alexis, I want you to know that I was not prying into things_ .." Kate watched as Rick's daughter's face lost some of its cheerfulness and became serious … shit, she was hopeless at this …then feeling Rick's hand squeeze hers she looked up at him, saw his look of encouragement and rushed into her confession "… _I was just making a list of what was in the storeroom so we could decide what to do with it when I found an open box_." With that she carefully pulled the binder from behind the cushion and handed it to Alexis "… _I found this in i…._"

She didn't get a chance to finish. With a squeal Alexis grabbed the binder and held it up in front of her. "_The Monkey-Bunkey stories! Wow, I'd forgotten all about them! Where are the others?_"

Castle burst out laughing at the look of part relief, part disbelief on Kate's face "_See! I told you, you didn't need to worry!_"

At that Alexis looked up, first at her father then at Kate and then back to her father, a look of perplexion on her face "_Worry?_"

"_Yes Pumpkin, Kate found it, and read the first few pages. Then she got worried you might get annoyed at her for invading your private property and wouldn't even let me open it until we got your blessing!_"

"_Whoa!_" said Alexis, looking across her father at Kate, "_You really thought I'd be mad at you for reading this?_" she asked, holding up the binder. By now Kate was tomato red, thoroughly embarrassed and wishing she was somewhere else.

Alexis stood up, moved around to the Detective's side and sat down next to her. She put her arm round Kate's shoulder, placed the binder on her lap and staring into the now, definitely emerald eyes gave her a kiss on the cheek and said "_Kate, I would love you to read this, and any other of the stories you come across. And there is no way I am going to get mad at you for looking into anything you might find in the storeroom … my personal diary, maybe_ " she laughed, "… _but that's under lock and key!_"

"_Where do you keep the key?_" piped up Castle.

A thoroughly flustered and relieved Detective thwacked his leg a second before his daughter did the same, his pout and their relieved laughter breaking the emotionally charged moment.

Kate picked up Alexis' hand in both of hers "_I was actually thinking … if you'd like to .… of finding the others and then reading them together?_"

Alexis hugged her. "_That would be great, we could maybe go through a couple each weekend …. and critique the author?_" she grinned at them

"_Now that is soooo unfair! Two against one, my own flesh and blood what's more ._.." he stated tragically as he flopped back against the couch, a hand stabbing at his heart.

Alexis jumped up, poked her tongue out at her grinning father and carried the tub of ice-cream to the freezer. She pulled out a couple of water bottles from the fridge door and placed them on the kitchen island. "_So who's for searching the lost tomb of the Castles!_"

Both Kate and Rick jumped up, Kate laying the binder on the coffee table and all three headed for the front door, the simple words imbibing them with a ridiculous sense of adventure. As she watched Rick close the door to the loft behind them, Kate couldn't keep the grin of her face; this family were the most ridiculous, fanciful, adorable and crazy bunch of people she had ever met … and boy was she happy to form part of it.


	5. Chapter 5

_**AN: Just to keep **_I'm Widget_** happy ... another chapter** :)_

* * *

Unlocking the door they went in, turned on the light and looked around. "_I don't think there is going to be room for all three of us in here, Rick, why don't you and I go through things and Alexis can make a note of whether it's for keeping, charity or dumping. Any boxes or items of interest we can place outside and go through together?_"

Rick looked around the accumulated items of furniture, appliances, boxes and bric-a-brac and puffed out his cheeks. Kate patted him on the cheek and said "_The quicker we get through this the quicker we can shower!_"

"_Oh god! You two … get a room!_" said Alexis as she rolled her eyes.

They spent the afternoon going through the contents of the storage, listing what was to go and what was to be left. Each time they came across a box it was taken out to the passageway. Once they'd finished with the contents inside the storage they started on the boxes. Rick and Alexis took one each whilst Kate made notes, _ooh'd_ and _aah'd_ with Alexis over childhood memories and ridiculed Rick over his man-child ones. Items were moved from one box to another depending on their destination and it wasn't till they only had four boxes to go that the _real_ motive behind the search bore any fruit.

It was in a box containing girl comics, magazines and a number of Alexis' childhood drawings that they found the stack of binders similar to the one that Kate had discovered days before. The box was quickly put aside and the remainder checked for anything of interest. It was at the bottom of the same open-topped box Kate had found that Alexis came across the first of 'her' stories '_Monkey-Bunkey at the Zoo_'. It was added to the box with the other binders and the rest of the boxes returned to the storage room.

Worn out, dusty, but with the satisfaction of a good job done and the 'treasure' retrieved, all three returned to the loft, Rick carrying the box 'of evidence' as he referred to it.

With the box deposited on the kitchen island, the empty water bottles in the bin and Alexis heading up the stairs to her room, Rick turned to his partner, took in her appearance and couldn't help the grin spreading across his face.

She was slightly flushed, her old t-shirt and pants showing patches of dust and perspiration, her hair, originally pulled back in a ponytail was somewhat dishevelled, loose strands hanging round her face, and clinging to her neck, a smudge of something suspiciously like oil or grease on her cheekbone giving her a slightly Rambo look.

She paused in the act of stretching, her look of inquiry changing to a suspicious glare as she saw him drinking her in. "_What?_" she growled and he tried smothering the laughter that threatened to bubble out.

He held out his hand to her and when she took it, pulled her through the study, the bedroom and into the bathroom. There he spun her round by the shoulders until she was facing the mirror. She took one look at herself and started laughing, her eyes moving up to lock with his as he stood behind her, his arms circling her waist to hold her against him and his chin resting on her head. "_And you thought you'd found a glamour-puss did you Castle?_"

"_Oh, I have Beckett, but I also like the really smart, very savvy, haunting good looks and really hot and dirty one too_" the double entendre, the glint in his eyes and the feel of his chest behind her had shivers running up and down her back and her hot and bothered look was no longer down to just the moving of boxes and furniture.

His hands slid to the hem of her t-shirt and began to slowly pull it up. Her eyes watched his in the mirror her body reacting to the intensity of his look as the cloth rose up her chest. She was pushing back into him, aware of his arousal, her own reaction intensifying and making her breath catch in her throat. She raised her arms, closed her eyes a moment as he lifted the t-shirt over her head and opened them again as he let it drop to the floor beside her.

One moment they were before the mirror, her body pressed backwards into his, next he had whipped her round and pulled her with him into the shower, clothes and all. Never one to shirk her duty, Kate made sure that Ricks' _savvy, _good looking, really hot and dirty glamour-puss lived up to expectations, after all, she knew her plumber would!


	6. Chapter 6

By the time all three were back in the sitting room, it was time to think about getting dinner or ordering in. They decided on Chinese and Rick phoned the order through to their favourite restaurant whilst Kate and Alexis moved the box next to the coffee table and began sorting through the contents. The comics and magazines went into one pile to be given to charity or binned if not. Alexis was ready to bin the large pile of far from remarkable drawings from her infancy, but Kate set them aside saying she wanted to look through them.

Alexis looked at her in surprise "_I think you're taking too many showers Kate!_" then grinned at the Detective's embarrassed look, "_Water on the brain, I meant!_" she added innocently.

Kate huffed a laugh and nudged her shoulder against the girl's "_You just wait Miss Castle, what goes around, comes around!_"

"_I think we need a duster for these before we end up sneezing all over them_ …" and with that Alexis jumped up and went in search of one.

Rick, watching the two of them as he placed the order, back against the kitchen counter, couldn't help the smile of pride and satisfaction which spread across his face. Not only was his Pumpkin a totally smart and generous girl, but his Detective seemed to know just what to say and do. He had never felt so at peace with the women who shared his life and home.

With the order placed, he headed to the coffee table carrying three glasses and a container of orange juice. As he put them down on the table, Kate looked first at the juice, then at him "_Orange juice?_"

"_If we are going to read kid's books, we are going to drink kid's stuff!_"

"_By extension, we shouldn't be ordering Chinese … it should be_ …"

"_Chinese kids eat Chinese food_" he interrupted with a mock frown

"_So, now we're Chinese?_"

"_Who's Chinese?_" asked Alexis arriving at the end of the conversation

"_We were … oh, it doesn't matter!_" laughed Rick, as Kate poked her tongue out at him. "_So what have you found so far?_"

"_That Kate has a fixation with kid's drawings_ …" interrupted by Kate spluttering into her orange juice "…_which opens up all sorts of interesting scenarios_" she continued as if nothing had happened.

Both Kate and Rick glanced at each other, their startled looks unmissed by Alexis who simply grinned to herself and pretended not to notice. She handed out the dusters she had found and placed the spray can on the table. Lifting out a few of the binders from the box she silently handed them to her father before handing a few more to Kate. Removing the final few from the box, she pushed it aside and set the binders on the table.

She sprayed some of the dust remover onto her duster, handed the can to Kate and started wiping down the first of the binders from her pile. The others followed suit, the comfortable silence allowing Kate to think about the comment made by Alexis, her mind going off on its own track, the colour rising up her neck as she realised where it was taking her, her upper teeth taking their usual hold on her lip. She glanced at Rick and found him watching her, the amused look on his face telling her that she was not doing a very good job of hiding her thoughts.

Glancing at Alexis she found the large, corn blue eyes looking at her in amusement …. Kate threw up her hands in surrender "_What!?_" She asked looking from one to the other.

"_Nothing…_ " said Alexis, "_... just thought that a little brother or sister would enjoy these stories_"

"_We … we are not going there! … not yet, anyway!_" answered a totally flustered Kate, then seeing her two companions rocking with laughter she threw the duster at Rick, a mock-angry pout on her face.

"_You two had better watch out! I'm so going to get my own back!_"

"_Oh Kate!_" said a still laughing Castle as he threw the duster back at her, "._. you are so easy_"

"_But I still think it would be great_" said a now serious Alexis, not looking at anyone in particular.

"_You never know_" said a shrugging Kate, but she couldn't hide the smile.

They finished dusting down all the binders and spread them on the table. Alexis picked up two of them "_Ok,_ Monkey-Bunkey at the Zoo _and_ Monkey-Bunkey at the Park _were the first two_" she said handing them to Kate "_then it was_ Monkey-Bunkey and the Naughty Banana, _followed by _…" she looked over the stories on the table.

Rick picked one up and handed it to her "Monkey-Bunkey Goes to School, _next I think_"

"_Right!_" she said, taking it and placing it under the one she was holding. "_We can sort the others out later. Where shall I put them Dad?_"

"_Put them on the dining table, we'll find a clean box for them later"_. She was half-way to the dining area when the doorbell went. Rick stood up, grabbed his wallet from the kitchen top and opened the door.

"_Thanks Jié, how's your dad?_"

"_He's great, thanks Mr Castle, told me to tell you he's added some dim sung to the order_"

Rick grinned, thanked the lad and closed the door before carrying the bags of food to the kitchen. The two women joined him and helped serve the contents of the boxes then all three headed back to the coffee table. The binders were placed on the shelf underneath the table to avoid oyster sauce and any other condiments landing on them, then all three dove into their meal, humming in enjoyment and discussing what to do with the items to be disposed of from the storage room.


	7. Chapter 7

With dinner over, they cleared the dishes, rinsed everything and placed it in the dishwasher before heading back to the couch. Alexis sat in the centre, Rick and Kate on either side as she pulled the first of the binders from under the table. Rick put his wine glass to the side and pushed Alexis's grape juice out of the way as she placed the binder on the table.

This binder just had a plain brown cover with a printout of the title pasted on …. There was no drawing on it. As Alexis opened it up, all three could see the first page …

**MONKEY-BUNKEY AT THE ZOO**

_For my little Pumpkin on her birthday_

_By Richard Rodgers_

Below was a drawing which was obviously Monkey-Bunkey. Alexis looked at it and then sighed. "_Obviously I wasn't endowed with artistic talent!_"

"_It sometimes skips a generation_" Said Rick with a grin.

"_Dad!_" "_Rick!_" came simultaneously from both women.

"_Well if you two are critiquing my writing, I'm critiquing the artwork!_"

"_Meanie!_" said Kate, passing her hand behind Alexis' back and giving Rick's waist a pinch.

"_Ouch_" he pouted, then sighed, "_Ok, I'll shut up!_"

**It was Monkey-Bunkey's birthday and the sun was up, the sky was blue and the birds were singing in the trees. **

**_What can I do today?_**** Asked Monkey-Bunkey**

**_I know! I can go to the zoo! _**

All three laughed at the picture of a tree with a monkey hanging out of the branches. A blue bird, almost as big as the monkey was standing in profile on the ground, a rather beady red eye staring out at them.

Alexis flipped the page.

"_Dad, you read it out loud, but I want all the voices as well!_"

Rick pulled the story a bit closer to him and leant forward throwing a mock-glare at the others "_And if I get critiqued for my voices you two can get dinner tomorrow!_"

**So Monkey-Bunkey got dressed in his best clothes … ****_"_**_I can see that from his bow tie!"_ Rick said in a stage whisper which set the two women giggling** … and walked ****_aaaall_**** the way to the zoo. **

**When he got there, he joined the queue which was full of funny people! **

**_Oooh!_**** He said, ****_there are tall people, and short people, and skinny-winny people and fat people! _**

**_And all dressed in pinks and blues and reds and oranges and greens!_**

He turned the page, cleared his throat and continued

**When Monkey-Bunkey got his ticket he ran into the zoo! … "**_So did someone else I won't mention, dragging her Daddy behind her"_** … and the first thing he did was look for some ice-cream!**

**_There it is!_**** He said, seeing the big pink and yellow ice-cream cones over the stall. So he went and bought the biggest-wiggest chocolate ice-cream ever!**

**It was ginormous! It was bigger than Monkey-Bunkey!**

As he turned the page, Rick glanced at the two women. Alexis sat rapt; he could tell her imagination was taking her back to those days of his reading these stories to her. Kate was sitting forward, a smile on her face, as she listened to him acting as she read the lines along with him. Her occasional glance at Alexis also told him she was aware of the effect it was having on his daughter.

**So Monkey-Bunkey licked his enormous ice-cream as he reached the first of the animals! And on the sign it said L – I – O – N – S …. It was the lions! There were five of them and one veeery, veeeery big and scary one.**

**He was the daddy lion, and he had a big wig … **_"I remember having to explain what a wig was"_ he added with a roll of his eyes which garnered him an elbow to the ribs **… "**_ooff!"_** … on his head with loads and loads of hair!**

**Monkey-Bunkey was licking his ice-cream when daddy lion opened his enooooouuuurmous mouth and let out a big "Roooaaar!"**

**Monkey-Bunkey was so frightened he almost swallowed the whole cone!**

He turned the page, grinning at his rapt audience and took a sip of wine.

**When Monkey-Bunkey got over his fright he decided to go and look at the next animal.**

**Ooooh! Said Monkey-Bunkey with a big round mouth. He is very big … and very grey …. And what a funny long nose he has! **

**So Monkey-Bunkey went to look at the big sign in front of the enclosure … E – L – E – P – H – A – N – T …. he read out loud that's ELE PHANT! Ha!Ha!Ha! He laughed what a funny name!**

**But then the elephant put his funny nose in a bucket of water. He sucked it aaall up with his nose, pointed it at Monkey-Bunkey and sent a big shower of water all over him!**

**And then it was the elephant who was laughing at Monkey-Bunkey's wet clothes! **

Kate was shaking her head and smiling at him as he turned the page

**Monkey-Bunkey could see some funny looking things in the next enclosure so he moved away from the nasty elephant, wringing his clothes out as he went.**

**When he got to the enclosure he could see rocks and water and a slide! Oh it looked like a fun place!**

**Then he looked at the sign. It said P – E – N – G – U – I – N – S …. Pen … guins. What a funny name! They did look a bit like short pens! **

**And as he watched them the pen-guins jumped up on the rocks and got on the slide and went _wooosh!_ Into the water making a big splash!**

**Then a man came into the enclosure and he had a bucket in his hand**

**Monkey-Bunkey though Oh No! But then the man pulled a fish out of the bucket and threw it into the water. And the pen-guins all went Splash! Splash! And one of them swallowed the fish!**

**Monkey-Bunkey didn't like fish, so he decided to look at something else. **

As he took another sip of wine and glanced at his two 'girls', he saw that Kate and Alexis were sitting shoulder against shoulder, thoroughly immersed in his storytelling, and he wondered what was going on in his Detective's head.

**The next enclosure Monkey-Bunkey got to was his favourite. It was where all his family lived!**

**The sign said M – O – N – K – E – Y – S and Monkey-Bunkey knew that because he was a Monkey! **

**He could see his cousin 'Spider' up in a tree. Spider was scratching under his arm .. _yuck!_ Near him was his other cousin Gibbon. Gibbon was cute! He had a funny white face and wore dark sunglasses and had veeeryyy long arms!**

**Then he saw his Uncle Capuchin who looked very annoyed and was eating a banana. He was looking at Grandma Tamarin who must have gone to the same hairdressers as Grandma Martha! She was all orange!**

**Monkey-Bunkey waved goodbye to his family and as he had finished his ice-cream he decided to go to the next place. **

Kate was laughing at the previous line and looked at him "_Has your mother seen this story?_"

Alexis giggled. "_Yes, and she didn't forgive him for about a week!_"

"_No,_" said Rick, "_But she did rush to the mirror to check!_" he added laughing.

**When Monkey-Bunkey got to the next enclosure he stopped and opened his mouth in a big _Oooh!_ He saw the feet, and then the legs, and then the neck which went up, and up, and up, and up for miles!**

**He looked at the sign and it said G – I – R – A – F – F - E ..… gi … raff, what a strange creature the gi-raffe was! **

**Then the giraffe looked down at Monkey-Bunkey and bent her long neck until her face was as low as Monkey-Bunkey's face. And she went blink, blink with her biiig eyelashes just like Monkey-Bunkey's Alexis did. **

**And then Monkey-Bunkey remembered that he had all his friends and Alexis' friends coming to the party and if he was late they would eat all his cake, and blow up all his balloons and open all his presents!**

Rick turned the final page and took another sip of wine.

**So Monkey-Bunkey ran all the way home and had a big party, with loads of friends and a nice big strawberry cake with candles and they played lots of games and sang songs and then he was so, sooo tired after such a long day, that he went up to bed. **

**But Monkey-Bunkey was a good Monkey, so he washed his face and hands, and brushed his teeth with his blue brush … **_"which I have to add here, someone was insistent I get him!"_** … and climbed into bed!**

**And then he gave Grams a goodnight kiss and another one for Daddy and a veeeerrryyy, veeeerryyy big one for Alexis! And after such a looooong day he went to sleep!**

There was a collective sigh from both his girls and he could swear there were tears in his daughter's eyes. He slung his arm over her shoulder and gave her a big hug as he planted a kiss on the top of her head. As he did so he caught sight of Kate looking at him, a glow in her eyes which had him gulping and quickly releasing his daughter.

"_That was so sweet Rick! And thanks Alexis … for letting me in on this little secret!_"

Alexis nodded, "_Uh-Huh, it was kind of special wasn't it. I'm so glad you found them Kate, they could have been lost!_"

"_Well, I'm off to bed guys, read the next one tomorrow?_"

"_Of course Pumpkin, sleep well_" said Rick as he gave her a hug and a goodnight kiss. Kate just stood up and hugged her, feeling Alexis' squeeze her tightly in response before heading up the stairs.

As Kate settled back on the couch she cuddled up against Castle and stroked the cover of the binder. Rick looked down at her bowed head, her hair falling forward, covering her face and not allowing him to see her expression. "_You ok?_" He asked.

She gave a quick nod of her head and squeezed the hand she had resting on his thigh. She didn't answer him, but settled back against his chest, nestling her head into his chin.

Rick let out a sigh of contentment and closed his eyes as he breathed in the scent of his partner, the cherry, coffee and Kate scent which soothed him beyond words.


	8. Chapter 8

Sunday morning was a lazy one for everyone in the loft and it was almost ten before Kate made her way out to the kitchen. Castle was still in the bathroom and she made the most of the few moments of peace she'd have by standing at the window as she sipped her coffee, the pale autumn sunshine painting delicate warmth on her face.

That was how Castle found her a bit later, pausing in the doorway to admire the view of his muse with the morning glow on her skin. He would have stayed there, immobile for who knows how long, but the sound of steps coming down the stairs from above broke the tableau, stirring the actors into movement.

Kate turned towards the study her senses telling her that he was there. They smiled at each other, the easy, gentle smile of mutual understanding and then both headed towards the kitchen where a yawning Alexis was pouring herself an orange juice.

"_Morning_" she smiled sleepily, giving Kate a hug and then moving round for a father-daughter cuddle. Kate watched them, still surprised occasionally at how she'd been accepted into this crazy, wonderful family; how between them they'd broken down all the barriers she had so carefully built up over the years. She was brought out of her thoughts by Alexis' questioning and slightly amused look.

"_Sorry?_"

"_I was saying that maybe we could go out to the park and read the second story there. As Dad based it on the park he can point out the relevant bits and pieces that might still be there?_"

"_How about taking a picnic?_" Kate suggested.

"_Hey! Great idea! Although there isn't much grass there, but we can sit at the tables, in summer its nice and cool under the trees, but we'll have to find somewhere in the sun and take some extra blankets just in case_" Rick laughed.

Martha made a grand entrance just then and on hearing the plans for the day, politely but firmly declined the invitation to join them, claiming that her joints were not up to traipsing round New York parks in fall, especially after all the dancing she'd been doing the night before. So once everyone had had breakfast, she disappeared up to her room and the three remaining members of the Castle/Becket Brigade started raiding the fridge for ingredients and ideas for the forthcoming picnic.

It took the combined efforts of Kate and Alexis to stop Castle preparing some really horrendous concoctions, but eventually they had a thermos of potato and leek soup, an onion quiche and cheese and bacon one (they'd managed to stop Rick adding anchovies and capers) and some pork and apple sausage rolls. They decided they'd pick up their coffees and some cakes or something at the park.

Rick disappeared into his bedroom and appeared some minutes later with a large sports bag which looked stuffed. Seeing Kate's eye-roll he shrugged, "_Blankets for sitting on and one each to wrap around us if it gets chilly_"

"_You think you and me will need more than one to keep warm_" she said, looking at him from under her lashes and chewing her lip. Castle started spluttering and huffing and she burst out laughing turning to see Alexis grinning at her father's loss of words.

"_She got you Dad … again_"

"_Not fair!_" he huffed and dropped the bag by the door.

It took the best part of another hour to get everything gathered … Kate's eyeballs rolling each time Castle appeared with something to take with them. Eventually he agreed to leave the binoculars, the book on American Birds, the legal pad he used for writing when away from his laptop, the snakebite antidote (Kate had laughingly admitted to being sucked in by that one when he had grinningly put it back on the kitchen counter), the walkie-talkie set and the compass.

By the time they'd got the food bagged, pulled on their coats and picked up the sports bag with the blankets they almost walked out of the loft without the most important item. It was Alexis who suddenly called out and stopping Castle from shutting the door, rushed back into the loft to pick up **Monkey-Bunkey at the Park**.

They were quite warm from the walk down Broome and Essex Streets to Seward Park, where the weak sunlight filtered through the almost bare trees, autumn divesting most of them of their yellow and orange leaves, a few hardy ones still clinging with dignity to the last of their foliage.

The park wasn't very busy, so they were able to choose a bench near the central oval, its large spray shower turned off at this time of year and the marble mosaic map of the neighbourhood with the various quotations by historic local residents laid out before them.

Kate was curious, she had been past the park and of course knew it was one of the oldest and the first permanent, municipally built playground in the United States. But she had never been inside the railings and so she enjoyed walking round the central marble mosaic map reading the quotes curving in towards the centre whilst Castle and Alexis covered the bench with a blanket, placed the bags under the bench and sat down waiting for her.

Kate finished reading the last of the quotes before looking up; finding both Castles looking at her and with blushing apologies she hurried to join them on the bench. They both laughed and told her not to worry, they knew the place from old and were quite aware of how fascinating things could be. Rick sat in the middle with Alexis and Kate on either side. He bent down, pulled the binder from out of the sports bag where Alexis had placed it and opened it up over their laps. All three huddled together, Kate and Alexis holding the binder's pages open whilst Rick threw an arm around the shoulders of each of his girls and pulled them in.

They flipped the pages to the first one which had the title

**MONKEY-BUNKEY AT THE PARK**

_For my little Pumpkin_

_By Richard Rodgers_

... and a drawing of a tree with a swing hanging from a branch and what was clearly a self-portrait by Alexis given the amount of flying red hair the grinning figure in the swing was wearing.

Alexis grinned, and flipped the page allowing Kate to catch it and smooth it flat. Rick dipped his head and began reading ...

**Monkey-Bunkey got up and looked out the window. It was a lovely day with the sun shining in a blue sky and a few white fluffy clouds floating past. He scratched his head ... scratch, scratch ... he went and then said "****_I know! I'll go to the park today!_****"**

**He packed a sandwich and a banana and a carton of milk in his backpack and put on his really, really cool Yankees cap and left the house, locking the door behind him and went out into the street. He said hello to Mr Loaf the baker and waved to Mr Chop the butcher as he walked along the pavement, stopping at traffic lights and waited for the signal to cross. **

**When he reached the park, the first thing he saw when he went through the gates was a fountain, it was whooshing water up in the air and then the water was coming down and getting everyone wet! **

Rick looked up and could see Kate twisting her head back to where they had entered the park. When she turned back he nodded, telling her "_The Schiff Fountain ... donated by Jacob H. Schiff_" he added with a grin.

**Monkey-Bunkey walked past the fountain and looked up at the trees. There were lots of little birds flying from one tree to another and it was nice and cool in the shade, the sun flashing through the leaves when the wind moved them. **

**As he got close to the centre of the park he could see the playground! Great he thought and he waved to all his little friends who were climbing all over the climbers, swooshing down slides and yelling "****_Higher, higher!_****" on the swings. **

**Some mummies were running round chasing after their little kids and daddies were pushing others on their bikes and everyone was laughing and having a great time! **

**Monkey-Bunkey was getting a bit hot now so he went to the centre of the park where there was a big map of that part of New York on the floor and the spray showers were shooting water up into the air and everyone was running through them and getting all wet and nice an cool! ...** "_and ending up with an occasional cold I have to add_" he finished in an aside.

There was a snort from Alexis on the other side of Rick and then she looked round him at Kate "_Yes, running in and out of the spray showers being chased by your Dad imitating a rampaging gorilla ... or being fed ice-cream all day long, I wonder which it was!"_

Kate let out a laugh at the thought of Castle running around amongst all the kids doing a King-Kong number. She looked at him with a sly grin "_Hmm, I wonder what it'd be like being chased by an Ape?_"

He waggled his eyebrows at her and Alexis gave another snort of disgust, although Kate could see her trying to hide her grin.

"_How about we have some soup and you can tell me about the park before carrying on with the story?_"

Rick nodded, pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket to mark the place and closed the binder before placing it on the bench behind Alexis. Kate had meanwhile pulled out the thermos and was handing plastic cups out to Alexis to hold whilst she poured the contents. All three sat back with a sigh, wrapped their hands around the cups and enjoyed the sensation of warmth spreading round their insides as they drank the soup.

After a while Rick pointed over to a small bronze statue of a husky dog over by the far railings. "_That there is Togo, who played a heroic role in the 1923 dash to bring an antidiptheria serum to Nome, Alaska. Alexis and all the other small kids used to love climbing on him and pretending to race him_" he looked at Alexis and smiled, then turned back to Kate with a quirked eyebrow.

She nodded, "_I know the story, but I thought it was Balto, musher Gunnar Kausen's lead dog ... the one in Central Park ... who made the run?_"

Rick grunted in assent as he finished his soup, "_Kausen and his sled dogs, led by Balto, carried the life savings serum almost 700 miles in six days and is probably the best known part, but the part played by musher Leonhard Seppala and his sled team, led by Togo, has been largely lost to history. Seppala met Kausen at Shaktoolik and turned back to Nome, travelling in freezing temperatures, wind and darkness. When they reached the next musher in the relay in Colovin, they'd carried the serum for over 90 miles but had actually had to travel more than 260 miles_"

"_Research?_" she asked.

"_Nope_ ..." he grinned, "... _but when Alexis asked me who Togo was I had to look it up!_"

By now Alexis was pulling out the quiches and the smell was making them all hungry. For the next several minutes they sat in silence, enjoying the weak sunshine, the singing of birds in the trees and the company of a number of sparrows and pigeons who knew exactly what human food looked like and had appeared out of nowhere the moment the quiches had entered stage left.

"_So what's that over there?_" asked Kate, pointing to the right at a building that could be seen through the trees in the far corner of the park whilst she used her other hand to wipe some crumbs off the corner of Rick's mouth.

"_Our favourite place when it rained _..." answered Alexis looking to where Kate was pointing, "..._ the Seward Park library, it's a branch of the New York Public Library _and _we'd run in and spend the afternoon reading ... Dad of course would soon end up the centre of attention reading out loud or making up stories! _"

"_How kind of him!_" said Kate somewhat sceptically.

Alexis looked at her with a grin, "_Yes, not to mention all those mothers who were also sheltering from the rain!_" The wise nodding of Kate's head had Alexis laughing out loud and Rick trying out his own Beckett stare on Kate ... which of course was a total failure.

"_Well they also used to have really cool exhibits every now and again; dinosaur exhibitions, Egyptian artefacts, Native American ones .._." he trailed off at the unimpressed looks from one pair of blue and one pair of hazel eyes.

When they'd finished eating they stood up and dusted the crumbs off their clothes before shaking the blanket out, initially much to the feeding birds' disgust and then much to their joy as more crumbs flew through the air. They then settled back down, Rick picking up the binder and opening it to the marked page. Both of his 'girls' crowded into his side with Kate even slipping her hand into his jacket pocket.

**When Monkey-Bunkey was nice and cool he picked up his backpack and sat on one of the benches under the trees. He ate his sandwich and drank his milk and gave the birds all the little crumbs that fell from his sandwich. Then he ate his lovely banana which he ****_didn't_**** give to the birds ... **"_not like someone who shall remain nameless and who tried feeding her banana to a duck!_"** ... and when he'd finished he made sure to pack away his milk carton and the banana skin and sandwich wrapper so that he could throw it in the bin at the park entrance; Monkey-Bunkey didn't want to be called a dirty monkey and get chased by the park keeper again!**

**Monkey-Bunkey could see lots of people going into the library and he could see all sorts of coloured flags outside. There were green ones and red ones and they had funny drawings on them so he decided to go over and have a look!**

**There was a big, big banner over the entrance that said ****_Dinosaur Exhibition!_**** ... wow! Monkey-Bunkey liked dinosaurs so he went up the steps and because he was only little he didn't have to pay ... he could go in for free! **

**When he got inside there were all sorts of booklets and posters and glass boxes with funny looking stones like snails ... but without the snail! And one that looked like a chicken with no feathers and one that looked like a very, very big tooth! Suddenly Monkey-Bunkey stopped! In front of him was a big foot made out of old bones ... and the foot was connected with some wire to a bone that was almost bigger than Monkey-Bunkey! And as he started to follow the bones up and up and up it reminded him of the gi-raffe in the zoo!**

**When he looked aaaall the way up he went oooh! The bones went up for miles and miles and miles and there was a veeerrryyy long neck and a tiny head on the end ... Monkey-Bunkey laughed 'cos the head looked silly. When Monkey-Bunkey looked at the sign by the big foot bone he read A – P – A – T – O – S – A – U – R – U – S ... what a funny name he thought Apa..., Apato..., Apato-saurus. Well, Monkey-Bunkey was glad he wasn't called Apat..., Apatosaurus!**

**Monkey-Bunkey spent hours looking at all the funny looking creatures and he bought himself a t-shirt that said '****_I'm a Rex_****' and wondered why the dinosaur on the t-shirt was wearing a crown! **

**He was beginning to feel tired, so Monkey-Bunkey decided to go home. It had been a long, fun day at the park, but it was time to have supper and go to bed. So Monkey-Bunkey waved goodbye to Camptosaurus and to Shantungosaurus and to Dryosaurus and to Heterodontosaurus and of course to Apatosaurus!**

**He walked all the way home, stopping before crossing the streets and waiting for the traffic lights to tell him when to cross and he said goodnight to Mr and Mrs Latte from the coffee shop and also to Mr Pasta from the Italian restaurant …. And by the time he got home he was so tired he could barely wash behind his ears and brush his teeth before falling into bed and going zzzzz, zzzzzz, zzzzz…**

He slowly closed the binder and looked at Kate who in turn was looking over his shoulder with a sweet smile on her face. Twisting his head back the way she was looking he spotted a little girl of no more than four or five staring at him with wide eyes as she clung to her mother's hand. They were only a few feet away and the mother was smiling back at them with a slightly embarrassed look on her face, "_I ... I'm sorry, we were just passing and when Amy heard the story she .._."

Rick gave them both one of his glittering smiles and a "_That's no problem, you're welcome, I hope you liked the story Amy?_" Amy promptly buried her face in her mother's dress and one slightly shy child and one thoroughly flustered mother departed the scene.

"_How about we head across the road and get some coffee and some cakes?_" asked Castle as he turned back to his companions, totally unaware of the emotional havoc he had wreaked on their unannounced audience. With a roll of her eyes Kate nodded and helped Alexis pack away the blankets, binder and thermos as a very Monkey-Bunkey-like Castle headed off to dispose of the rubbish.

"_You know, I didn't think much of this park when we first arrived, but seeing it through Monkey-Bunkey's eyes and discovering about Togo and the map and the quotes_" Kate said as she pointed to the central area, "_I've become quite attached to it!_"

Castle grinned at her, "_You'll like it even more in summer, sure there are nicer parks and better ones, but this one ... One of the things I like most are the tennis courts over there. There are four courts lined up next to each other and on the weekends the local kids really take a lot of liberties with the standard rules of tennis. Trying to play a normal game is like entering the Tennis Twilight Zone. Kids are yelling, tennis balls are flying in all directions, there'll be about six kids playing on one half of a tennis court, and thirty kids playing basketball with two balls on half a basketball court ... I can tell you, it sure keeps you on your toes!_" Kate laughed at this picture of sporting mayhem .

He continued, "_They also started the Hester Street Fair a few years back. It's on every Saturday for most of the year and you can find great local food, clothing, furnishings and lots more!_"

"_I'm liking it more and more! Maybe we should come down next week?_"

Alexis nodded enthusiastically, "_I haven't been for ages, I'd love to!_"

As they left the park behind them and headed across the street Kate started laughing even more as she saw where they were headed. The _Cafe Grumpy_ sign over the door seemed to sum up the fun day they'd had.

* * *

_**AN: Not ever having been to the Big Apple and certainly never having visited Seward Park, apologies for any mistakes and errors, I have done my best to gather information from the internet, but anyone who feels they can correct me on any glaring errors is welcome to do so. Thanks! ** _


End file.
